One of the most famous pitchers in baseball history, Sidd Finch brought a blazing fastball and a background in yoga to the mound. Ultimately, he chose to put aside baseball and pursue a career playing the French horn.

Except, of course, he didn’t. That’s because he didn’t exist. But for a short time, many believed he did.

Sidd Finch The Myth

Sidd Finch is one of the greatest April Fools jokes every perpetuated in baseball, a sport known for a lot of jokes and pranks. Not surprisingly, it sprang from the mind of George Plimpton, one of the most famous sports writers of all time.

For baseball fans both then and now, the entertaining article is certainly worth the read.

But apparently, at the time even Plimpton was scared it wouldn’t work.

An Interesting Coincidence

The birth of Hayden Siddhartha “Sidd” Finch has its roots in the Sports Illustrated publishing calendar back in 1985. Looking ahead one day at the publishing dates, then-editor Mark Mulvoy realized that in 1985, one of the weekly magazine’s publishing days would fall on April Fools’ Day.

Like any good editor, he came up with an idea around the “holiday” – how about an article on April Fools jokes in sports? He assigned the idea to Plimpton.

Plimpton, at this point, was already a celebrated writer. In his unique and interesting career, Plimpton had specialized in participatory journalism, in which he placed himself in the middle of whatever subject he was writing about.

For example, he played for the New York Philharmonic. But perhaps his most famous participatory journalism was turned into the 1966 book, “Paper Lion,” about his time at the 1963 Detroit Lions training camp. Plimpton was trying to make the team as the third string quarterback. The team was in on it, but the players weren’t.

The real enjoyment of the book came from documenting the lives of sports stars off the field, giving an insider’s point of view of what it’s like playing professional sports. Plimpton ended up writing books in a similar vein for baseball, hockey and twice more about the NFL.

Plimpton’s Dilemma

Assigned the Sports Illustrated April Fools’ Day article, Plimpton struggled. He couldn’t find enough amusing anecdotes to flesh out the story. Eventually, he decided to make up his own story.

Even then, he faced trouble. He was concerned that the joke was too elaborate and not funny, according to his then-assistant, the novelist Jonathan Dee. According to Dee, Plimpton called him in on a Saturday (something he never did) and asked him to read the piece (something he also never did).

Dee also revealed that Plimpton was partly inspired by an April 1, 1981 article in the London Daily Mail about a Japanese runner who had entered the London Marathon for the first time under the mistaken belief that it lasted 26 days, not 26 miles. “I feel awful,” said the man who mistakenly gave him the wrong rules for the marathon (he blamed a translation error).

The Sidd Finch Story

Plimpton’s story certainly was elaborate, but also funny. He wrote about the New York Mets training camp and how three batters had been separated out from the group to face a new pitching prospect: Sidd Finch.

Finch, according to Plimpton, has been raised in an English orphanage, adopted by an archaeologist, attended Harvard, learned yoga in Tibet and wore one shoe when he pitched. Oh, and he could throw 168 miles per hour.

Plimpton reported that the great Finch could not decide between playing baseball or the French horn. The elaborate article featured photos of those who knew Finch, including the woman who enjoyed his horn playing at a St. Petersburg boardinghouse (the Mets then trained in St. Petersburg).

It also had pictures of Finch with Lenny Dykstra and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre. There’s even one of Finch playing a French horn on the beach. The Mets played along, giving Finch a locker and uniform No. 21.

Reaction and Legacy

Despite the zaniness of the story – or perhaps because of it – many fans believed Plimpton’s piece on Finch. Mets fans particularly wanted to know more, calling and writing Sports Illustrated for more information.

In the next issue, April 8, Sports Illustrated reported that Finch had retired. They finally announced the whole thing as a hoax in the April 15 issue.

In a sense, the Sidd Finch article was a precursor to the comedy “fake news” that later took over the Internet, most notably by the web site The Onion. Such satire also appears frequently in places such as the New Yorker.

While certainly not the first such hoax, the Sidd Finch story has a special place in the hearts of baseball fans. Thanks in part to the wit of Plimpton and the satire on the sometimes-eccentric behavior of baseball players, the story lives on, even 30-plus years later.